Mies van der Rohe furniture – Barcelona and Brno models – Bauhaus design

Mies van der Rohe furniture – Barcelona, Brno and Bauhaus design
A major architect and designer of the modernist movement, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe developed furniture that has become iconic of 20th-century international design. He directed the Bauhaus school from 1930 to 1933. His work with tubular steel, leather, and rigorous architectural lines profoundly influenced modernist furniture of the 1950s and 1960s.

Barcelona chairs, Barcelona daybeds, Brno chairs, Bauhaus seating, and tubular steel furniture are among the most sought-after creations of international modernist design today. Developed in the late 1920s by major Bauhaus figures such as Marcel Breuer, Mart Stam, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the cantilever chair principle quickly became a symbol of 20th-century modernist furniture.

Mies van der Rohe’s furniture is distinguished by its balanced proportions, simple lines, and use of noble materials such as leather, chrome, and glass. Vintage editions and reissues produced by Knoll, Thonet, or Tecta are particularly sought after for the quality of their materials and finishes.

The formal rigor of the designer’s furniture, combined with the visual lightness of tubular steel and glass, helps make his creations major references of Bauhaus aesthetics and 20th-century modernist architecture.

The architect’s work naturally dialogues with that of other Bauhaus and tubular furniture figures such as Marcel Breuer, Mart Stam, or Le Corbusier, who are also represented in our selection of 20th-century modernist furniture.